Super Easy, Super Yummy Supper!

It is always a challenge to find a supper that we ALL will enjoy... and tonight we hit the jackpot! Even picky-picky #3 had thirds of this dish. I am currently using E-Mealz for menu planning every week (more thoughts on that later) which has been helpful as my appetite is less than typical. Our list of 'everyone will eat' meals is as follows:

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Bean & Cheese Burritos
Pancakes
French Toast
Chicken Nuggets and French Fries
Spaghetti (only with spaghetti noodles, though... don't try to feed her any other kind of noodle!)

And now... Chicken & Couscous!

Here's what I did:
-1 box of roasted pine nut couscous (I used Near East) prepared as directed on box... except I put a chicken bullion cube in with the seasoning & water
-4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks, cooked in olive oil seasoned with basil, oregano, garlic, majoram and thyme (can also use a Greek Seasoning)
-1/2 container of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
-2 oz. feta cheese

Stir everything together in a casserole dish and serve!
It took about 20 minutes to prepare on the stove cook top and we ate a fresh salad/fresh veggies as a side dish. There was enough left over for my hubby to take for his lunch tomorrow.

Full Hands

Sometimes its so hard to look past the business of parenting young children. Sarah W. at Give Me Neither shared some great thoughts about that today. A few months back, as I was grocery shopping with the three kiddos, a middle-aged women approached my cart. She looked at me, at the kids, and back to me and commented, "if all those children are yours, you are very blessed."

Whoever this woman is, these words have come back to me time after time as an echo of how God views my children, and that my attitude and actions should reflect God's.

It is quite obvious that I am pregnant. Stick a personal sized watermelon under your shirt and you'd resemble me quite accurately. Conversations naturally evolve around the expected baby and I get a lot of raised eyebrows when others learn this will be our fourth child. One of the most common comments people make goes something like, "you'll certainly have your hands full!". Yes. I like to reply, "my hands are full of blessings".

Cherries, Revisited

When I started this blog, it was more for me. To remember what it was like to be the wife and mom in a busy, young family. Today my blogging paid off when I needed to look up how I preserved cherries. I didn't can any last year, because we had enough from 2009. My ultimate goal is to can cherries, peaches, applesauce & tomatoes on an every-other-year rotation.

We went to Well's Orchard this year for our cherries. Last year we picked at Robinette's and we used Moelker Orchards in 2009. After visiting 3 different orchards, Well's and Moelker have lower-hanging trees and more easily maneuvered aluminum ladders. This is highly valuable when one a) is rather pregnant and b) brings along a 15 month old to join the fray. My neighbor picked at Robinette's today and shared a few sweet cherries with me - they are darker, softer and sweeter than the ones I picked last week, but it may also be a different variety. She noted that the tart cherries were easily picked from the ground.

This year I paid $1.50/pound for u-pick and took home 22 lbs.
Some we ate fresh (not too many... the kids had their fill at the orchard)
6.5 pints canned (1 quart jar didn't seal)
12-ish quarts frozen

The next adventure will be blueberries. My favorite website for checking out farms and orchards also has nice info on preserving the produce.

Strawberry Season

We visited DeLange's Redberry Farm yesterday to pick strawberries. Never picked strawberries before (in my adult memory). Always stayed away because I thought it was too much work. Well, think again! I picked 24 pounds of berries (mostly myself) in less than 90 minutes while chatting with friends and keeping an eye on the kids. They were $1.50/pound this year for the U-pick. And we had a great morning!

It had rained the previous day so the field was wet. We wore rain boots and just didn't worry too much about the mud. I was quite pleased to find that DeLange's use a technique for field drainage that makes picking much easier - there are troughs between rows so the rows seem elevated! My back was thankful for that. However there are other muscles that got a nice workout... stairs were a little slow this morning!

So far I've allocated strawberries for:
2 Strawberry Pies
2 loaves Strawberry Bread - not to self: do NOT over mix!!!
1 double recipe Strawberry Rhubarb Cake
1 double batch of no-sugar jam (recipe from inside the box of pectin)
1 double batch no-sugar strawberry-rhubarb jam (modified recipe from box of pectin)
7 quarts in the freezer for smoothies, topping, baking etc. over the next 12 months
about 2 quarts for eating fresh

I'm like my mom - ideas are a dime a dozen. We are idea people. A few weeks ago I had a GREAT idea! Since Baby Girl gets her clothes from the baby big and tall shop, we were starting to have pajama sleeper issues. They (the clothing makers) just don't make those wonderful sleep sacks bigger than a 9 month size. We do live in Michigan. It does get cold here. The baby wiggles. A lot. Especially in her sleep. Blankets are not an option.

So I mentioned to my sister that I thought I might make a fleece blanket bag for the baby to use in the winter. Being the wonderful, thoughtful and crafty sister she is, she actually found some great (cheap!) fleece and flannel at a Five and Dime store.

Three weeks later, the material is still sitting, unstitched, in the kitchen.

Today in a mad attempt to remain awake from 11 pm last night until 8 pm this evening, my "octurnal" sister decided to take upon herself this sewing project. We (mostly 'she') got two of the three intended projects completed this afternoon:
1 - using a 0-9 month sack sleeper as a "pattern", we traced around the edges + 1". Pretty much "eyeballed" everything else.
2 - Make quick trip to fabric store for zippers and snaps.
3 - Let previously mentioned sister sew!
4 - Baby model time
5 - Alternative style - sleeveless. The third sleeper will be purple fleece, long sleeved and flannel-lined.
We thought about using a pattern, but never got on the computer to look. If you aren't into "eyeballing" or don't have a smaller sleeper to pattern after, try looking for a bunting pattern.

Perfect Lasagna!

It's fall sports season... and for our family that means wonky schedules. That also means it's crock season! Wednesday we attended a district cross-country meet so I threw a lasagna in the crock pot. It turned out perfectly and the best part is that you don't have to precook the noodles. Click on the link for the original recipe

Ness's Crock pot Lasagna (with Joy's modifications!)

Brown: 1 lb ground beef with 1 onion finely chopped and 2 cloves garlic crushed & minced. Drain grease and mix with 1 jar (28 oz) spaghetti sauce and a little extra (maybe 1/4 cup more) - I prefer chunky garden style.

Mix well: 1 lb. cottage cheese, 3 cups mozzarella/Italian cheese blend, 1 scrambled egg, 1/4 cup milk and 1 box of frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry.

Grease the bottom and sides of crock.

Spread about 1/4 of the sauce/meat on bottom of crock. Layer noodles (break to fit), 1/3 of cheese. Repeat with sauce - noodles - cheese for two more layers. Top with remaining sauce. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of water along sides of crock.

Cook on high for 3 hours.

Locks of Love

Inspired by my niece, Grace, I decided to grow out my hair for the purpose of donation. Grace donated lots of curly blond hair in the spring of 2009. When I found out I was pregnant I knew the prenatal vitamins would make my hair grow like gang-busters. Plus I hadn't had a cut in at least six months (who has time for that?). Then I talked my middle sister into cutting her hair, too! My hair has never been this long, nor will it ever be again.

A Day at the Lake

With Thing 2's third birthday fast approaching I thought it would fun (?!?) to make her and her dolly matching dresses. Since this is to be my first "make clothes for the kids" undertaking I settled on the ever popular and hopefully-easy-to-make Pillowcase Dress. The only problem was finding a cute pillowcase. Enter a quick stop to Goodwill and another to the fabric store.

Ta-da!

Materials:

1 - standard size pillowcase (Goodwill, $1.99 for set of 2)

1 3/8 yard of 1" pink ribbon (Field's Fabrics, ~$1.40)

thread

sewing maching

scissors

measuring tape

pencil

2 - free pdf download patterns (1st Pattern: sizing, actual directions I tried to follow, 2nd Pattern for an idea of how much of the material, ribbon and another example)

1 hour of my time

For next time: amount of ribbon is good, but I'll try a skinnier (1/2 inch?) ribbon. I cut this one longer (21 1/4" I think) than the size chart indicated as I wanted her to wear it for a longer time and hit just below her knees.

The Graduate

Nealy five years ago I sat across the table from a spunky 8th grader. We were having breakfast at IHOP with a group of other Jr. and Sr. High students and their new youth pastor. Her older brother and sister were also among the group. This student stood out to me. Without having an indepth conversation, I was drawn in by her enthusiasm, energy and the sparkle in her eyes.

Eighteen months ago this spunky now 11th grader threw what can only be characterized as a three-month-long temper tantrum because she wasn't invited to be part of a student leadership group. Based on this response, it appeared as if not inviting her to participate was indeed the correct action. This 16 year old princess, complete with the silky blonde hair, perfect tan and pretty face, managed to rile enough adults that the student leadership program has not continued.

Last weekend I watched virtually every male at a graduation party look at this graduated senior with wide eyes and gaping mouth. [Yah, she really is that good looking.]

Last weekend I also watched this young woman carefully guide not one, but two visually impaired peers the entire way down the isle at church, physically assist them when needed in taking the bread and wine of communion then gently lead them back to their seats in the balcony of the church.

Tears filled my eyes as I thought about the first time we met. When I thought about the difficult, though typical, teenage attitude she has displayed. When I saw her step outside of herself and humbly show the kindness and gentleness of Jesus Christ.

A Little Bit of Hope

After a blogging sabbatical, I am ready to continue to put thoughts into words. The very first thoughts I need to post are of thanksgiving to God for a beautiful, healthy third child born in early March. She arrived large, late, and bathed in prayer by the ladies in my Bible Study who were meeting as I labored. My heart (and hands!) is full.

In addition to welcoming our little one we have had the joy of watching friends and family welcome new children into their homes in the 2 months surrounding her birth. We are so grateful to God for the lives of Faith, Justine, Hope, Katie, Emmet, Benjamin, Coulter, Cody, Austin, & Abraham and for the presence of these children in their families.

Books, Books, Books

Over the past two months, I've been coming our library for applicable or interesting parenting books for parents of children 0-6. Here's a list of books, each with a synopsis and some opinions thrown in:

Could It Be Autism? by Nancy Wiseman, founder of First Signs
Written by a mother of a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Could It Be Autism provides excellent developmental guidelines for parents of children 4 months (yes! 4 months!) and up as well as warning signs and "red flags" of Autism. Wiseman guides a parent through the "what do I do's" of concerns, evaluation, referrals, Early Intervention, second opinions, therapy, choosing professionals and advocating for your child in the school system. The information presented is factual and relevant. She strongly urges parents to be a cooperative but persistent advocate for their children regarding school-based services. While this perspective caused me some discomfort as a professional she rightly stressed how creating positive, cooperative relationships with school staff was the most effective way to get help for your child. This book is going immediately to my reference list.

Anne from "A Little Bit Crazy" referenced a book called Wonder Weeks in her blog. I have not yet read it (and apparently neither has Anne) but I have recommended it to several parents. It's on my "watch list" for the library. You can read Anne's blog and her review of this book on her blog, annesasylum.blogspot.com

Beyond Baby Talk: from sounds to sentences - A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development by Kenn Apel Ph.D., Julie Masterson Ph.D
Written by Speech-Language Pathologists, this is ASHA's official language development publication for parents. The book does a great job of breaking down language development into stages by age (0-6 mo, 6-12 mo, 12-24 mo, etc.) and providing information for each area of language (comprehension, spoken expression, social use). I learned a few useful items to easily apply in my practice as a Speech-Language Pathologist and would recommend this book for parents of children who are under 12 months or for parents of children with language delays (versus a motor speech/articulation delay or disorder).

The Late Talker by Dr. Marilyn Agin, Lisa Geng, Malcolm Nicholl
Dr. Agin is a SLP-turned-pediatric physiatrist (rehabilitation doctor for children) and feels that Apraxia of Speech is under diagnosed or unrecognized by most pediatricians. While Agin does address other areas of speech and language development, her book is a focused bullet for parents seeking answers and treatment for children with severe speech delays or disorders. She gives a useful table of speech and language development milestones, how to cooperate and get results from the school system and how to go about getting insurance coverage for private speech therapy. I would reserve recommendation for only families with the most severely impaired children. I thought her descriptions, concerns and advice were realistic for children with Apraxia, though it might give other parents a scare. This book gave me a great professional "kick in the pants" to be aggressive in my therapy plans and a reminder of how parents rely on professionals for quality intervention, answers, help and support.

Positive Discipline for the First Three Years by Jane Nelson
The best and most applicable I've read lately. Nelson's big themes are "kind and firm" and a child's developing autonomy. She addresses all manor of "behavior issues" (biting, hitting, exploring the forbidden, running away, obedience) and developmental milestones (sleeping, eating, toileting). She holds that it takes just as much time an energy (or more) to yell, lecture, or discipline using a slap/spank/time-out as it does to firmly and gently re-direct, provide an appropriate substitute or ask simple questions to help a child solve a problem (such as sharing) on his/her own. She feels that young children understand actions better than words. Included is an excellent chapter on choosing childcare/daycare. Coverage of special needs is cursory. She also authored Positive Discipline A-Z and Positive Discipline for the Preschool Years. I am most anxiously looking to read these next!

Meat-less Loaf

While we are by no means vegetarian, occasionally I like to experiment with "meatless" recipes. Since Thing Two doesn't eat meat, it's a good way to get in some extra protein. Every time this dish has been prepared it has received accolades and requests for the recipe. So as the weather cools, whip up this wonderful Cottage Cheese Roast and enjoy a meat-less meal.

Cottage Cheese Roast (Recipe Zaar) with My Modifications in italics

16 oz. Cottage Cheese
4 eggs, scrambled
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 oz (about 1 package) Onion Soup Mix
1 cup sesame seeds
2 cups Corn Flake cereal

Grease loaf pan. Combine all ingredients til well mixed. Spoon into loaf pan. Bake 60-70 minutes at 350 degrees. Let rest 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

Add my favorite meatloaf topping: 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 T mustard, 1 T brown sugar mixed together.

The Rest of the Summer

Summer is not a time to be indoors on the computer.... so in an effort to catch up on my blogging, here's our past six weeks in a picture/nutshell:

Riding with Grandma at Family Camp, Northeast, PAVacation should involve some golf.....
And swimming [lessons] with Tante....

Take in a ball game and too much junk food...

Or make the children into food (we were playing 'burritos' here)...

Speaking of food, one should always eat blueberries off the bush for at least 30 minutes solid when picking...

Maybe get a few in the bucket (we did manage to pick 14 lbs in about an hour; most of them are now in the freezer for winter cereal topping)....

And celebrating some one's 2nd birthday! Not just once,

But twice!

Ahhhhhh, summer!

Cottage Vacation

We spent the past week at a cottage with my parents and sisters. While I wait for my dad to upload his 500 pictures, I pulled the best ones of the 20 on our camera. My aunt and their children & grandchildren (a.k.a. "our cousins") cottaged about 1 mile down the road from us. We spent the week biking or driving between the cottages, sharing meals, playing in the water and sand, reading novels, boating, lying in the sun, splashing on the "rack" (interpreted as 'dock'), painting and enjoying long naps!

Thing Two squashed in her bed (she's sideways in a pack-n-play, though she barely fits the long way) during nap time.
This pic of Thing One with my dad is my very favorite picture of all. I'm pretty sure we had to record "rack" time in hours rather than minutes.

On the suggestion of a very smart friend with little boys, I bought 3 foam craft "paint brushes" for $0.99 and provided water in a bucket and an empty yogurt container. And I don't know where Thing Two's pants are.

Cherry Fest

Sweet Cherries were ready today at Moelker's Orchard so off we went. The kids and I met a friend and her boys there and we picked for about an hour. Her boys were quite helpful with the picking! My children were more apt to climb a ladder and get stuck or just eat cherries of the ground. Together we picked 6 full buckets (approx 4 qts each) which totaled 20 lbs for her and 18.5 lbs for me. They are priced at $1.50/lb. (less than 2008!). At 8:30 am, we were the second set of customers to arrive and had the trees and ladders mostly to ourselves. My friend, who is smarter and more experienced than me, brought a wagon (to pull both children and cherries and have a place to put the diaper bag) and a bib for her youngest. We didn't have to go far into the orchard but it was wonderful to load all our six buckets of picked cherries in the wagon and haul them easily to the weigh station and the car.

The cherries we picked today are firm, dark, nice size and very, very sweet!

From 18.5 lbs, I have several pounds for eating after canning 7 quarts and 7 pints. I loved canned cherries as a kid. They were the easiest fruit I've done yet. Here's what I did:

Wash cherries

pack into warm canning jar (I just keep the jars in the dishwasher after I washed them)

add heaping 1/4 cup sugar; fill with water to 1" from the top of the jar

wipe the edge of the jar, cover with lid and lightly screw on band til just stops turning easily.

Process in boiling water bath for 25 minutes for quarts, 20 minutes for pints.

When my mom and I were remembering and researching how to do this, many of the sites recommended a hot pack (using hot water to pour in jars, slightly cooking the fruit first), pitting the cherries and soaking them in a salt/vinegar solution to retain color. I do not plan to sell them. We just want to eat them all winter. So I left the pits in so they'd retain a nice shape and not get soggy.

Well, the first batch is out and I have heard three "pops" of the lids sealing so far.

Content

There is just something special about holding a newborn baby. Friends of ours delivered their first baby over the weekend and I've been lucky enough to have held her twice this week. It's special because they are so fragile and new, so innocent and sweet, so small and helpless. A newborn is only a newborn for a few short, sleepless weeks. A newborn is meant to be held.

God has been attempting to teach me a thing or two over the past year. I have been slow to listen and slow to learn. From the point of deciding we wanted to have children, "more than two" seemed to be the goal. For the better part of a year, this desire for "more than two" has turned into an emotional and spiritual struggle. Mid-winter my soul finally heard God's calling to me: Be Content. That was it. No further instruction.

God intended this to be a comprehensive reform, starting with our desire for more children. Content with our finances. Content with my husband. Content in my job. Content with my children. Content in His provision, His blessing, His calling on my life. Whatever it may be. It doesn't matter what anyone else has or has been through. It's as if God said to me, "I AM the Alpha and the Omega. I AM all you need."

The learning process is tough. I see hope, humility and answered prayer in the good days. I see pride and stress in my failures. What's next is unknown, except that God is Sovereign and Jesus is Lord. So I'll go snuggle my babies, clip some coupons and greet my husband warmly, knowing that God's mercies are new every day.

The Homefront

I'm holding down the fort while hubby is on a mission trip with the high school students. Usually we like to keep busy while he's gone. We are doing that quite well. Maybe too well this week. The house ... well ... no one is here to run it. So it's not running so well...

• the dog is eliminating on the carpet (yuck!!!), a feature which is not being helped by our lovely fire-work-loving neighbors


• we ran out of milk. I don't think that has ever happened before!


• the power went out


• Thing One is having a very difficult time separating... at church on Sunday it took two of us to pry him off me when I brought him to his room. When I returned he said "I was sad because daddy left and then you left." Sorry buddy.....


• I couldn't figure out why the dishes were piling up... until I realized my dishwasher was on a mission trip and I was going to have to fill in for the week


• the lawn is going to seed


• I feel completely scattered because we've been too busy


• went through a complete snafu at work involving a mother who was possibly lying to get services for her child, a forgotten $300 assessment kit I left outside an apartment complex, completing an evaluation that we weren't supposed to do, and way too many phone calls in Spanish to locate said family in the first place


• spending 15 minutes I didn't have prying off the thermostat cover to turn on the A/C. 80 degrees inside at 7:30 am is not going anywhere good....

On the other hand, there have been a handful of lighter moments to remind me to slow down, enjoy life and take care of the priorities:

• Thing Two (22 months now!) talking motherese to her baby doll


• swimming with friends and family three days this week!


• an unexpected phone call from a friend, just checking in since she knew I was solo this week


• extra time with my parents


• Watching the wheels in Thing One's head as he learns about Jesus: "Zoie can gwow up and be n angel instead... instead of a lady."
  "Was I born? Was I born in a manger????"


• and our first attempt at pigtails

Phases

Grandma E discovered the inner diva of Thing Two. She's really into accessories lately - shoes, hats, and sunglasses.
She wears is passing through a phase where the glasses never leave her face. We had to make a "no bed, no table" rule. Outside, I can definitely see the need.
I wonder where she learned to wear her glasses on her head? Don't ask me how I got so lucky to score the pink stars...

The only picture I didn't get was wearing the yellow-lens glasses to church. Didn't think it was appropriate to be taking pictures of that sort in church.

Rhubarb-mania

My dad picked me a paper bag full of rhubarb a week or so ago. I told him I'd take as much as he wanted to pick for me. I chopped 24 cups worth of stalks.

2 - 4 cup packets went into the freezer for later use

8 cups + 2 cups frozen strawberries + 1 cup fresh strawberries + 3 (sm) pkgs sugar free strawberry jell-o + 1 (lg) pkg orange jell-o + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 pkg no sugar pectin = a double batch of jam. (NOTE: I doubled and combined several recipes - if you try it, the amount of sugar should be 1/3 - 1/2 cup for 4 cups rhubarb, or a little more if you use the sugar free jell-o)

4 cups reserved for cake

4 cups reserved for pie
The pie turned out tart, with pockets of sugar here and there. Husband was a big fan of the sugar pockets. I'm not. Next time I'll mix or layer the sugar in rather than just covering the top of the rhubarb, as the recipe suggested. Overall, a good pie experience. One piece remains...

I'd like a little more to have another go at the jam. Additionally, some of my friends make homemade jam and its great to swap so everyone has a variety. We've been able to trade away some spice pear jam for some fabulous strawberry freezer jam (Marcie - it's amazing!), sweet grape jelly (a treat we never buy compliments of Missy) and a yet-untasted cherry jam (super excited about this one!) from Maria. Last fall I landed 3 bushels of pears (free) from which I made 5 batches of jam (both canned and freezer) and canned 24 quarts and froze 6 quarts. While I really enjoy spiced pear jam, a little variety is always welcome.